Developments in Ukraine France rejected Russia’s request for an immediate review of the downing of the plane carrying the prisoners in the Security Council

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency, some experts They have warned that the attack of the Ukrainian armed forces on the Russian military transport plane carrying prisoners of war could stop the rare exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine. In addition, by continuing such actions, Kiev destroys the possibility of any peace talks.

The Russian Foreign Ministry last night called this attack by the Ukrainian armed forces “an insane action.” and barbarity” and called the downing of the Il-76 plane the result of the inability of the Kiev authorities to negotiate.

News sources believe that the Il-76 plane may be The use of the American Patriot system may have been downed, as munitions similar to those used in the system were found at its crash site near Belgorod. Experts did not rule out the use of the IRIS-T mobile air defense system provided to Kiev by Western countries.

As ​​a result of this terrorist act, 65 prisoners of the Ukrainian armed forces They were being transferred to the region for exchange with Russian soldiers, and six flight crew and three companions were killed. In addition, the skill of the pilot made the falling plane move away from the populated area and prevent civilian casualties.

Immediately after this incident, many Ukrainian media reported that the plane was shot down by the country’s army. But after it became clear that there were a large number of Ukrainian prisoners on this plane, they edited their content and deleted the information about Kiev’s responsibility in this incident.

Administration Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense sources, for its part, said that Kiev apparently does not know who was on the Russian military plane, while they confirmed that the prisoner-of-war exchange between the two sides was scheduled to take place on Wednesday.

Next, you can follow the developments related to the 711th day of the Ukrainian war:

***

France rejected Russia’s request to hold an urgent meeting of the Security Council regarding the downing of the Il-76 plane

Dmitry Polyansky, the first deputy permanent representative of Russia to the United Nations, announced last night that France, as the rotating presidency of the Security Council, requested the Russian side to hold an extraordinary and urgent meeting of the Security Council in The date of January 24 in connection with the attack of the Ukrainian armed forces on the Il-76 aircraft was rejected by the Ministry of Defense of Russia. that France is abusing its duties as the head of the UN Security Council. According to him, Paris has scheduled a meeting related to the downed Il-76 plane for the evening of January 25 to cover the Ukrainian side in this regard.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at his press conference in New York last night that Moscow requested an urgent meeting of the Organization Security Council at 15:00 New York time ( 23:00 Moscow time) about the downed Il-76 plane. He emphasized that the Russian side is proving the facts related to the downing of this plane by Ukrainian forces and insists that an urgent meeting of the Security Council be held so that representatives of the Ukrainian side can explain their actions.

Lavrov: Ukraine knew for sure that there were prisoners of war in the Il-76 plane

Sergei Lavrov last night in a press conference at the end of the events of the UN Security Council, emphasized that the Ukrainian side knew for sure that the Il-76 plane that was shot down over the Belgorod region was carrying prisoners of war.

The Russian Foreign Minister said: “I can’t promise you from here that the Ukrainians will admit to this action, but the fact that they knew their military personnel They were on this plane, that’s exactly how it is.”

BBC reporter asked Lavrov what evidence Russia intends to provide for the cause of the plane crash? And Lavrov recalled: “In April 2022, three days after the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from the city of Bucha, the B channel BC showed a fake story with dead bodies on the main street of the city. Could the BBC, as the author of that scenario, still be interested in discovering the truth?” Lavrov added: “With all due respect to the radio and television company, I am very concerned.” It is not whether they believe there were Ukrainian prisoners of war in the downed plane.

Vedant Patel, the deputy press secretary of the US State Department, announced at a press conference last night that the US expects both sides of the Russian and Ukrainians to investigate the situation of the Russian Air Force Il-76 plane crash in the Belgorod area. “It is not the cause of this incident,” he said: “We will support the authorities of Russia and Ukraine to conduct their investigation and prove the facts, but at the moment I cannot express my opinion or view on this matter.”

At the same time, he mentioned that he had seen media reports about the crash of this Russian plane.

The United Nations expressed regret over the crash of the Russian Il-76 plane

Stephen Dujarric, the official spokesman of the United Nations Secretary General, announced last night that this world organization He regrets the loss of life due to the crash of the Il-76 plane belonging to the Russian army in the Belgorod region of this country. We saw […] We are sorry for the casualties in this incident, but we do not have more information in this regard.”

Kirby: America is discovering the details of the IL- 76 is Russia

John Kirby, the coordinator of strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, announced Wednesday at his regular press briefing that Washington has enough information to He does not comment on the cause of the crash of the Russian Il-76 transport plane in the Belgorod region of this country.

He said: We have seen these reports, but we cannot confirm them. Of course, we do our best to clarify and get more information about this. But I have nothing to add at this time.

Kirby added: It is “not wise” to speculate about the incident.

The opinion of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine regarding the disruption of the exchange of prisoners due to the crash of the Russian Il-76 plane

Main Information Department The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced on Wednesday that the Ukrainian side apparently does not know who was in the Russian Il-76 transport plane that crashed in the Belgord region.

This department announced in a statement published on its Telegram channel: Currently, Ukraine has reliable and comprehensive information about who and how many were on this plane. No.

At the same time, the Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed that the exchange of prisoners of war was supposed to take place on January 24 between Russia and Ukraine. However, apparently, the Ukrainian side does not have information about the route of the prisoners’ transfer and the method of handing over the prisoners.

In addition, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine accuses Russia of trying to destabilize He blamed the situation in Ukraine and the weakening of international support for Kiev.

Zelensky canceled his trip to several regions of Ukraine after the crash of the Russian plane. >

The RBC-Ukraine newspaper last night, citing its source in the presidential office, reported that after the Ukrainian armed forces attacked the Russian Il-76 plane and killed Due to the large number of Ukrainian prisoners, Volodymyr Zelensky has canceled his trip to several regions of the country, which was scheduled for January 25.

According to this information, President Zelensky is waiting for the clarification of the exact situation of the crash of the Russian Il-76 in the Belgorod region.

In addition, it is reported that he has several appointments and all It has also canceled the events planned for Thursday.

US Senate Committee supports bill to transfer frozen Russian assets to Kyiv

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee supported a bill to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. As the voting results were reported last night by the Bloomberg news agency, 20 American legislators agreed to this proposal and only one person voted against it.

This The document relates to the allocation of additional aid to Ukraine using confiscated assets belonging to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, as well as other independent Russian assets.

According to Bloomberg, However, any US effort to seize and transfer Russian assets must be done jointly with international allies and partners. In addition, this bill must be approved by the entire Senate and then the House of Representatives, and then sent to US President Joe Biden for his signature.

Previously In early January, Bloomberg reported that the Joe Biden administration is backing a proposal to allow Washington to seize about $300 billion worth of frozen Russian assets. This budget is supposed to be spent on the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Slovak Prime Minister warns his Ukrainian counterpart: there is no military solution to end the war

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, in a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Denis Schmigal on Wednesday, emphasized that he personally does not believe in the possibility of a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine.

The Prime Minister of Slovakia wrote about this on his Facebook page: The meeting that was held earlier in the day in Uzhgorod, Ukraine, showed that the views of the two sides are significantly different. Attention varies on a number of subjects. Fico added: I repeated to Mr. Prime Minister that I do not believe in a military solution to this conflict and that a diplomatic solution should be considered.

He assured himself that he “fully supports the goal of convergence and integration of Ukraine in the European Union.”

Latvia will build a defense line on the border with Russia will create

Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spradz announced on Wednesday that the construction of a defense fortification on the border of the Baltic Sea country with Russia is possible. take 10 years. He said: “Financial resources are important in this regard, because there are other important areas as well.” We are talking about a significant cost that needs to be financed.” According to the Minister of Defense, there is already a multi-year plan that specifies the actions and how to implement them. It defines the plan and generally speaking about the construction of this defensive wall in ten years. Preliminary construction cost estimates previously determined may be revised in the future. Spreads noted that the Latvian government must decide how to balance these costs.

end of message/